Considering retiring in Argentina but have so many questions

[Jerry Nelson]

As for Gates, he has already donated over $50 billion to charity and intends to donate 'virtually all' of his remaining net worth over time. Bezos's ex has donated $14 billion, while he has donated $2.4, but committed to $10 billion so far. Musk has donated at least $5.7 billion. Anyone want to claim that the US government or any government should get the money they donated to charity instead? Many billionaires simply believe they are better at making use of their fortunate for good than their government.

And you know this how?

 

[FrankPintor]

A degree of scepticism is needed: from https://edition.cnn.com/2022/11/28/opinions/billionaires-pledge-share-wealth-collins/index.html I read that with pledges to give away the majority of their wealth, we should...

"see declining billionaire fortunes. But on the 10th anniversary of the pledge in 2020, my colleagues at the Institute for Policy Studies and I found that the total net worth of the 62 living initial pledgers hadn’t diminished at all. In fact, it had nearly doubled, when adjusted for inflation.

Part of the challenge is that billionaire wealth is simply rising so fast – US billionaires have seen their total wealth increase by $1.5 trillion since the beginning of the pandemic, according to an IPS analysis based on Forbes’ billionaire database. As our economy becomes ever more tilted toward the rich, even committed philanthropists are making money faster than they can give it away.

The increasingly top-heavy nature of today’s giving landscape – and the growing dominance of lightly regulated funds often controlled by donors themselves – is an even bigger problem.

While billionaires do of course still donate to charities, grand philanthropic pledges are often fulfilled by dumping funds into family foundations or donor-advised funds (DAFs) that could exist in perpetuity. Some 30% of charitable donations now flow through intermediaries like these, outpacing direct donations to many traditional charities.

Billionaires may claim enormous tax deductions – not to mention starry-eyed headlines – for parking funds in these intermediaries. But there’s little to no guarantee that money will ever make it to working charities. Foundations are only required to pay out 5% of their assets each year, and most dole out just slightly more than this minimum. DAFs face no annual payout requirement at all. Lax reporting requirements make it difficult to assess their activity, but recent reports suggest that median DAF payouts are shockingly low.

What’s more, billionaire charity is our tax dollars at work. For every dollar a billionaire gives to charity, we the taxpayers chip in up to 74 cents of that dollar in lost federal tax revenue as donors claim deductions in their income, estate and capital gains taxes, among others. That makes it even more outrageous that much of this money may never reach a real, on-the-ground charity".

For example, "the $5.7 billion of Tesla shares that Elon Musk donated to an unnamed organization at the end of 2021 went to his own charitable arm" (from Forbes). Peter Thiel doesn't even bother to disguise his so-called charitable donations: "the Thiel Foundation, a nonprofit charity of billionaire Peter Thiel, gave millions of dollars to a fund that funneled money into hate groups and groups that spread COVID-19 denialism". I think Bill Gates, while he was a justified object of techy hatred for most of his life, is an honourable exception to the above. But still, the ideal behind government taxes is that the money will be distributed to causes that society at large has determined to be valuable, and voted for, rather than billionaires spaffing whatever they feel like, at their discretion, on their pet political and other projects.

 

[TonyTigre]

A degree of scepticism is needed: from https://edition.cnn.com/2022/11/28/opinions/billionaires-pledge-share-wealth-collins/index.html I read that with pledges to give away the majority of their wealth, we should...

"see declining billionaire fortunes. But on the 10th anniversary of the pledge in 2020, my colleagues at the Institute for Policy Studies and I found that the total net worth of the 62 living initial pledgers hadn’t diminished at all. In fact, it had nearly doubled, when adjusted for inflation.

Part of the challenge is that billionaire wealth is simply rising so fast – US billionaires have seen their total wealth increase by $1.5 trillion since the beginning of the pandemic, according to an IPS analysis based on Forbes’ billionaire database. As our economy becomes ever more tilted toward the rich, even committed philanthropists are making money faster than they can give it away.

The increasingly top-heavy nature of today’s giving landscape – and the growing dominance of lightly regulated funds often controlled by donors themselves – is an even bigger problem.

While billionaires do of course still donate to charities, grand philanthropic pledges are often fulfilled by dumping funds into family foundations or donor-advised funds (DAFs) that could exist in perpetuity. Some 30% of charitable donations now flow through intermediaries like these, outpacing direct donations to many traditional charities.

Billionaires may claim enormous tax deductions – not to mention starry-eyed headlines – for parking funds in these intermediaries. But there’s little to no guarantee that money will ever make it to working charities. Foundations are only required to pay out 5% of their assets each year, and most dole out just slightly more than this minimum. DAFs face no annual payout requirement at all. Lax reporting requirements make it difficult to assess their activity, but recent reports suggest that median DAF payouts are shockingly low.

What’s more, billionaire charity is our tax dollars at work. For every dollar a billionaire gives to charity, we the taxpayers chip in up to 74 cents of that dollar in lost federal tax revenue as donors claim deductions in their income, estate and capital gains taxes, among others. That makes it even more outrageous that much of this money may never reach a real, on-the-ground charity".

For example, "the $5.7 billion of Tesla shares that Elon Musk donated to an unnamed organization at the end of 2021 went to his own charitable arm" (from Forbes). Peter Thiel doesn't even bother to disguise his so-called charitable donations: "the Thiel Foundation, a nonprofit charity of billionaire Peter Thiel, gave millions of dollars to a fund that funneled money into hate groups and groups that spread COVID-19 denialism". I think Bill Gates, while he was a justified object of techy hatred for most of his life, is an honourable exception to the above. But still, the ideal behind government taxes is that the money will be distributed to causes that society at large has determined to be valuable, and voted for, rather than billionaires spaffing whatever they feel like, at their discretion, on their pet political and other projects.

It's very common for people to setup a family charity foundation and distribute only a small amount each year so that it can exist in perpetuity, for obvious reasons... i.e. ego/legacy. Having a charity exist in perpetuity is a good thing, and unlike governments, they can exist without additional tax dollar funding.

For every billionaire charity that might be funding initiatives you might not like, guess how many government programs are funding initiatives costing billions that millions of other taxpayers don't like. At any given year, it's safe to say that at least 40% of voters disagrees with what their government is spending their tax dollars on. Yes, the people voted for the government leaders who decide how the tax dollars would be spent, but the people also voted for the lawmakers who created and maintained the laws that gives the tax deductions for charity donations because they believe it would encourage more donations to charities.

As for the rich getting richer, welcome to reality. What matters is that those who have made The Giving Pledge have in fact been donating billions to charities that are actively helping people.

 

[on the brink]

It is a good way to ensure their money doesn't go to pay for those $70,000 dollars toilet seats the Pentagon favors.

 

[Delaluz26]

Many US retirees get their SS checks deposited monthly in their argentine bank accounts in pesos.
Its very difficult to live in Argentina without a bank account, and a DNI, so "being in the system" is kinda a necessity.
You will then be able to put your various monthly payments on autopay from your bank account.
I have bought property here, not a rural lot, but the process is the same for all purchases- its all priced in dollars, and the transaction takes place in dollars. Poor people dont own property here, unless they inherit, as saving tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars is not possible on average minimum salaries.
Uruguay is much more expensive, both for buying property and daily living.
Argentina has complications, for sure, but its actually pretty liveable for people on low incomes, compared to many countries.
In dollars, utilities, health care, taxes, food, and public transportation are a fraction of what they are in places like the USA.
But I would agree- you need to come down, rent short term for a couple of months, and see if its for you.

If someone has their ss check deposited in pesos is it dolar oficial they are getting? I'm considering helping my father move here and he would be living on his social security and not sure how it would work especially because at first he would just come on a tourist visa to see if he even likes it here before committing to any kind of more permanent visa situation...

Also, wondering if anyone know if I am married to an Argentine citizen and have permanent residency here can my father apply for residency through us or would a retirement visa be better? He gets about $1400 per month which I think should be more than enough to live on in the small city in Entre Rios we live in, but when you factor in the cost of the retirement visa annually, not sure it makes sense financially... Would love opinions,,,

 

[steveinbsas]

If someone has their ss check deposited in pesos is it dolar oficial they are getting? I'm considering helping my father move here and he would be living on his social security and not sure how it would work especially because at first he would just come on a tourist visa to see if he even likes it here before committing to any kind of more permanent visa situation...

I can only say that, if migraciones will soon (as recently indicated in another post) require all new temporary residents with a foreign pension income to "transfer" their monthly income directly from their foreign bank into to an Argentine bank, and if the Argentine bank then has the power to convert those dollars to pesos at the official rate, it will likely be a "deal breaker" for all of them.

Also, wondering if anyone know if I am married to an Argentine citizen and have permanent residency here can my father apply for residency through us or would a retirement visa be better?

I would love to be wrong, but I do not think that the parent of an adult child would not be eligible for temporary residency, even if he/ she is married to an Argentine, so a retirement visa is likely the only option.

 

[steveinbsas]

I would love to be wrong, but I do not think that the parent of an adult child would be eligible for temporary residency, even if the sibling is married to an Argentine, so a retirement visa is likely the only option.

 

[steveinbsas]

I do hope it's possible and someone can clarify.

 

[daio]

Parents of permanent residents should be able to get permanent residence as well(under b):

Radicaciones No Mercosur - Residencia Permanente

Se encuentra regulado en el artículo 22 de la Ley N° 25.871, reglamentada por el Decreto N° 616/2010.

www.argentina.gob.ar

 

[steveinbsas]

Parents of permanent residents should be able to get permanent residence as well(under b):

Radicaciones No Mercosur - Residencia Permanente

Se encuentra regulado en el artículo 22 de la Ley N° 25.871, reglamentada por el Decreto N° 616/2010.

www.argentina.gob.ar

Yippie!!!

Thanks!